Studies performed on the long-range accuracy of the current U.S. Army artillery shell stockpile have suggested that at ranges above 20 kilometers, numerous rounds must be fired to achieve a lethal effect on the target. Area saturation can be used to defeat or immobilize a target, at the costs of delaying advancing troops from reaching the target and allowing an enemy some opportunity to evade an assault. Additionally, conventional munition inaccuracies require friendly fire target standoff distances of greater than 600 meters, which prevents suppressive fire in support of target engagement by advancing troops for as much as 20 minutes.
Precision weapons are being developed to increase range, to significantly reduce the conventional munition logistic task and to resolve the battle engagement time and mobility issues. However, precision weapons are expensive, and their high accuracy may not be required for conventional munition ranges.